Let's send every child to a good school

Published: October 21, 2011

According to the U.S. Department of Education, almost 27 percent of children in America already have access to the school of their choice. As recently as 2007 -- the most recent year of available data from the National Center for Education Statistics -- 16 percent of students attended a public school other than the assigned school in their district, 9 percent went to faith-oriented private schools while the remaining 3 percent went to private secular schools. The numbers listed above do not include the 3 percent who are home-schooled.Clearly, parents want to be involved in the selection of the school for their children. In fact, there is a growing percentage of families that choose to relocate to a new neighborhood or town so their child can attend a particular school. If parents are willing to pick up and move for a better school, then clearly our system of rigid geographic school districts is failing, and a new system based on school choice needs to be implemented.The real question is, "Can we afford to let more children have school choice?" or, "Can a system be put in place to still support the public schools while allowing parents to have this choice?" Actually, a well-implemented school choice program saves the state money, without downshifting the cost to the local school districts.According to the New Hampshire Department of Education, in 2009 we spent $14,549 per pupil. This amount is well above the U.S. national average. However, there are many private secular schools in New Hampshire that, according to test scores, provide a better education at a much lower cost. For example in grades 1-8: Monadnock Waldorf School costs $10,000, the Well School in Peterborough costs only $8,800 and the Pine Hill Waldorf School in Wilton is $12,160.Faith-based schools are also affordable. For example, St. Joseph Regional in Keene charges $5,753 and Trinity Christian Academy in Peterborough charges less than $3,400 per year.There is no budgetary excuse to shortchange our children. Even if every parent in the state sent their child to private school -- which is unlikely -- at taxpayer expense, it would save money. Better quality education can be achieved at lower cost.Naively pouring more money into public schools without choice doesn't improve performance either. The Washington D.C. school district spent an astounding $28,170 per pupil in 2009. The D.C. graduation rates and test scores were far worse than the national average.However, according to a recent study, a school-voucher program in D.C. achieved a graduation rate of 91 percent, compared to the public school average of 56 percent. Even under the harshest inner-city conditions, with many single parents under high stress, educational choice works.What can we do to give more children access to educational choice in New Hampshire?The first step is to create an education tax credit that encourages businesses to give money toward educational scholarship foundations that can create scholarships for children to go to the school of their choice. This will give more parents the ability to choose a private school. At the same time, it will reduce the financial burden on towns and reduce class sizes in taxpayer-funded public schools.Just as in any other field, the absence of competition leads to stagnation and failure. Letting parents, rather than politicians, choose where to spend their children's tuition money will build a world where every child goes to a good school.State Rep. JR Hoell, R-Dunbarton, sits on the House Education Committee.

This article appears in the October 21 2011 issue of New Hampshire Business Review